Uvalde families poised to file $27 billion lawsuit over mass shooting
UVALDE — Lawyers for nine families tied to the Robb Elementary shooting said they might sue the Uvalde school district, city officials and state and federal agencies alleging "negligence" and "failure to act" in the course of the May 24 attack that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
A letter from the lawyers said the amount of the claims will total $27 billion.
Charles Bonner, a lawyer based in Sausalito, Calif., and one of several attorneys representing the families, said he served the Uvalde school board with the notice of claim of a class/mass action at its Monday night board meeting, and he served the Uvalde City Council during its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday evening.
Bonner said the families' members — identified in the claim notice only by first name and last initial — did not include any with students killed or injured in the attack but were in "that zone of danger" at the school.
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Bonner said the families also might sue Daniel Defense, which manufactured the AR-15-style rifle used by the gunman, as well as the Uvalde County sheriff’s office, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Border Patrol, all of which responded to the mass shooting.
Bonner said he will seek $27 billion for the families as compensation for a list of damages, including significant mental and emotional distress, and to provide for a “medical monitoring fund” for the victims’ families so they can access psychological support for the rest of their lives.
The claim heavily cites a Texas House investigative committee’s July 17 report on the shooting that found extensive and systemic failures in the law enforcement response on both the local and the state level. Those “faulty assumptions and poor decisions” resulted in the shooter remaining inside two classrooms with his victims for more than 70 minutes before officers engaged and killed him.
The claim effectively serves as a formal notification of the families’ intent to file a potential federal class-action lawsuit if a settlement isn’t reached. Bonner said if negotiations do not lead to a result the families find acceptable by the end of September, he will file the lawsuit in federal court in San Antonio.
Bonner said he anticipates several more families will join the suit in the coming days.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Uvalde families poised to file $27 billion lawsuit over mass shooting
